Tug is simply standard procedure for long range naval sorties, they also double as logistic vessels(fuel and such), there are photos of Kuz being refueled from one on it's Syria deployment.

Tugs are standard procedure for Russian ship groups because they are limited as to the number of friendly ports available if something should develop.

Of course sometimes getting fuel from a port is a possibility but it is too small for a carrier to go in and get, so having a smaller ship go in and fuel up and then bring the fuel out to a sea anchorage makes sense.

Many Russian tugs have multiple functions.

If they fucked up the new boilers during construction

Of course... they are totally incompetent...

I mean presenting the evidence to the court... look at the smoke pouring from this vessel...

hoom wrote:I saw a suggestion the new ones are auto/electronically controlled? Counter suggestion that was cancelled & its Russian made version of same model.

Supposedly a big part of the issue K & Sovrmennys have had is complex manual control & inexperienced/low motivation operators -> electronic control would help keep stuff burning optimally.

I think it would be the foolest thing not to put ALL 8 new boilers. Boiler KVG-3 has lifespan of some 100.000 hours and that is some 11 years of non-stop heating. Problem is that in 90s Russians did not use proper purified water - they often used simple potable water as boiler water, and these boilers are very sensitive to any impurity and residues. Also, they need very skilfull complement to operate them, especially when often changing steaming conditions. All that Russians lacked in 90s.

At the 82nd shipyard in Roslyakov, the floating dock PD-50 sank, users of social networks report citing factory workers. There are people injured.

It is reported that on the night of October 30, during the departure of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov from the dock, an emergency occurred. As a result, the dock itself sank, and a tower crane fell on the aircraft carrier. Information also appeared on the four victims. According to unconfirmed reports, workers could get into the water.

According to the relatives of one of the workers, a rescue operation is underway. Alarm services have been pulled to the scene.

The victims of the partial flooding of the floating dock in Roslyakovo were taken to hospital. In total at the moment it is reported about four victims. All of them got hypothermia, and one person also suffered an abdominal injury. This was announced by the head of the Murmansk Territorial Disaster Medicine Center, Viktor Rogalev.

The floating dock PD-50 in Murmansk, where the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov is being repaired, partially sank at night on October 30 .

The source of the TASS agency in the emergency services said that the workers who had fallen as a result of the incident in the Kola Bay were saved.

At the 82nd shipyard in Roslyakov, the floating dock PD-50 sank, users of social networks report citing factory workers. There are people injured.

It is reported that on the night of October 30, during the departure of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov from the dock, an emergency occurred. As a result, the dock itself sank, and a tower crane fell on the aircraft carrier. Information also appeared on the four victims. According to unconfirmed reports, workers could get into the water.

According to the relatives of one of the workers, a rescue operation is underway. Alarm services have been pulled to the scene.

The victims of the partial flooding of the floating dock in Roslyakovo were taken to hospital. In total at the moment it is reported about four victims. All of them got hypothermia, and one person also suffered an abdominal injury. This was announced by the head of the Murmansk Territorial Disaster Medicine Center, Viktor Rogalev.

The floating dock PD-50 in Murmansk, where the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov is being repaired, partially sank at night on October 30 .

The source of the TASS agency in the emergency services said that the workers who had fallen as a result of the incident in the Kola Bay were saved.

Is Kuznetsov damaged?The dock sank partially or fully. j suppose that the dock has water ballast tanks for trimming. So, it sank, or ballast tanks were accidentally flooded?

The representative of the Zvezdochka Center for Ship Repair, Yevgeny Gladyshev, called the preliminary reason for the “unsuitable immersion” of the floating dock PD-50, in which the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov was under repair.

According to Gladyshev, the reason for the “unsuitable immersion in water” of the floating dock PD-50 was the shutdown of pumps caused by a surge in the electrical network on the shore during the operation of “Admiral Kuznetsov” on the water, reports TASS .

According to incoming information, power outages in a number of areas of Murmansk occurred due to bad weather, which caused accidents on power lines.

The representative of the Ship Repair Center has not yet been able to clarify whether the dock is damaged.

According to a source in the emergency services, the launch of the aircraft-carrying cruiser from the floating dock was planned, the towing of “Admiral Kuznetsov” to the regular parking place at the 35th ship repair plant in Murmansk was being prepared.

Meanwhile, the medical unit "Sevryba" reported that two of the four victims of the flooding of the floating dock independently went home, another one in intensive care.

Tass says hull & deck damage https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/5735802

The crane, which fell from the sunken afloat PL-50, damaged the hull and takeoff deck of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. This was announced by the head of USC.

At the same time, the TASS source in the operational departments clarified that "the fallen crane is still there, the scale of damage is being clarified."

According to the agency interlocutor, divers will inspect the underwater part of the aircraft carrier's hull during the day to make sure that it is not damaged.

[size=49]A crane has fallen onto the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the flagship of the Russian Navy undergoing a refitting overhaul in Murmansk, leaving a hole above the waterline that measures 4 by 5 meters, said Alexei Rakhamnov, the head of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation.[/size][size=49]"The crane that fell left a hole 4 by 5 meters. But at the same time these are structures that are repaired easily and quickly," Rakhmanov told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the repair would cost little.[/size][size=49]A spokesman for the repair plant where the vessel is docked told Sputnik that because parts of the deck were dissembled for repair and upgrade, the fallen crane dealt more damage to the equipment rather than the deck itself.[/size][size=49]The vessel suffered no damage that could affect the upgrade time and was towed to a repair yard outside the 35th shipbuilding plant in Murmansk where repairs will continue.[/size]

Right, that early into refit/modernization they didn't need to re-float it, so it's a mishap. Electrical power must be supplied to drydock by underground/water cables to avoid it in the future. Pathetic!This will set back the schedule "to the right".

Right, that early into refit/modernization they didn't need to re-float it, so it's a mishap. Electrical power must be supplied to drydock by underground/water cables to avoid it in the future. Pathetic!This will set back the schedule "to the right".

This thing was never anything more than White Elephant and status trap so overall naval capabilities won't be affected at all

As for money, they were already wasting a pretty penny on it so little bit more is nothing

So dock sank on its own when shore power lost (implies significant leaks), onboard generators have been offline unmaintained & uncrewed for years.

K wasn't ready, valves etc open, has holes still cut in the sides -> some flooding so there must have been a significant risk of it sinking without crew action.

Gonna presumably need K out of the water to properly fix that & K doesn't fit in Severodvinsk basin so they'll have to either raise & repair or replace the dock (was built in Sweden) before they can fix K May need a crash program to build a new floating dock if it can't be patched up.

Do they have cranes powerful enough to raise the dock? If not, foreign help will be needed. Extra generators could be used to insure power supply. The Zvezda shipyard isn't ready yet; the PD-41 could be busy. Besides, towing the Adm. K across the NSR in winter could damage it even more.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvezda_shipyard What a disgrace!

hoom wrote:......Gonna presumably need K out of the water to properly fix that & K doesn't fit in Severodvinsk basin so they'll have to either raise & repair or replace the dock (was built in Sweden) before they can fix K May need a crash program to build a new floating dock if it can't be patched up........

Or they could do sensible thing and just cut their losses.

Kuznetzov barely contributed to defence of Russia at all: it did not do it's intended role, it wasn't used as anti-sub helicopter platform and not even his battery of anti-ship missiles was online.

At most it was used for pilot training but even that is irelevant now that Russia opted for STOVL aircraft development.

This ship has been nothing more than money sink and prestige trap: even though it was almost useless they were still holding on to it in order to maintain prestige and reputation but it was failure even in that department because they were losing prestige simply by operating this ship.

They should use this opportunity to cut her loose and redirect funds into more worthwhile and usable platforms.

They may lose some reputation in the process but it's nothing compared to how much they lost already because of this ship and how much more they would lose if they continue holding on to her.

Tsavo Lion wrote:Do they have cranes powerful enough to raise the dock? If not, foreign help will be needed. ....

Good luck finding one.

And even if they do then this prestige boat will cost them even more prestige...